How the Patriots are adjusting to life without Devin McCourty
"We still miss the grumpy bald guy," Adrian Phillips said. "But, I think we’re moving along well."
Matthew Slater folded his arms and smiled as he cracked a joke about the way Devin McCourty used to get on his case in practice.
“A lot of times he was like getting on me, hazing me, making fun of me so my spirits are a little bit higher,” Slater said. “No, I’m kidding, I miss his voice. I always joke that he’s like my work wife so it’s strange for me to be without him after 13 years together. Needless to say, it’s an adjustment.
The Patriots don’t have a plug-and-play replacement for McCourty.
The longtime team captain spent more than a decade roaming New England’s secondary while making a pair of Pro Bowls and being a key member of three Super Bowl championship teams.
So far, in training camp, the Patriots have had several players rotating in at safety.
Kyle Dugger, who started alongside McCourty last year, has already picked off Mac Jones twice. Veteran safeties Jabrill Peppers and Adrian Phillips are in the mix. Jalen Mills, who the Patriots initially signed as a cornerback, is adding snaps at safety to his plate. Rookie linebacker Marte Mapu has also gotten looks in the secondary.
“There’s still a lot of knowledge out there so you don’t have to go straight to Dev like we used to in the past,” Phillips continued. “Now everybody is kind of branching out. You’ve got guys coming and talking to us and getting different views of how plays are supposed to look and how things are supposed to look.
“We still miss the grumpy bald guy,” Phillips said. “But, I think we’re moving along well.”
Phillips said the Patriots are adjusting to losing McCourty’s speed, along with his leadership. He said that playing free safety involves a mental game with the opposing quarterback and that McCourty’s replacements each have to figure out their own style of play.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s tweaking the coverage or tweaking our scheme,” Phillips said. “It’s more so understanding your strengths as a player. So, with Dev, his whole career he ran a low 4.3 (40 yard dash time) so he could play things a certain way.
“He could sit on certain routes and play them a certain way,” Phillips continued. “So, for other guys who might not be as fast as him, you might have to be more detailed with your reads, more detailed with your pedaling where you line up on the field. With Dev, he could line up pretty much in the middle of the field and get sideline to sideline.”
With several players battling for the open spot, the safety position will be one to watch for the Patriots in training camp and preseason.
It’s the Patriots’ first time without McCourty since he was drafted 2010.
“The guy is a once-in-a-lifetime,” Slater said. “In terms of who he is as a person, the way he led for this organization, the things that he stood for and what he was able to accomplish off the field. That won’t be replaced. I think it would be foolish of us to try to replace that.
“I think there are some things that he started here in terms of his legacy that we can try to follow and continue to uphold,” Slater continued. “But we’ve got to do it in our own way and be our own men and pursue our own passions and do it the right way.”
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